Thursday, January 19, 2006

XBOX 360 ROCKS

Over the next few weeks I will be posting my opinions about the Xbox 360 and the games I own. This week I examine the system itself, next week I will start game reviews.

I was one of the lucky ones that pre-ordered the Xbox 360 and received my unit on the launch day back in November. I got the $399 full system, an extra controller, and two games. The games I got at the time were Perfect Dark Zero and Call of Duty 2. Since I have gotten Project Gotham Racing 3 and Quake 4. Following are my opinions after a couple months use on a normal 4:3 flat screen 27" TV.

Xbox 360
THE SYSTEM
The graphics are fantastically crisp, clear, and smooth in all of the games. The graphic detail is very impressive and includes little extras that I have not seen in other game systems. In Call of Duty 2 you can see someone's breath in the cold Russian air, lip movement is more natural and matches better what is being said, facial features overall are much more natural. The Dashboard is a set of tabs or folders and is very easy to navigate. The system has the ability to download game updates, videos, skins and Microsoft Arcade games to play, one game is included free, Hexic HD, a variation on Tetris. Most of the downloads are for sale such as the arcade games. Rather than charge the payment to your credit card you have to purchase "gold points" that are used to pay for any downloads. This means Microsoft gets money up front for what you will buy in the future. There are FREE movie trailers, many in both 720p and 420p, that can be downloaded. Downloads on my 1.5Mbs DSL are much faster on the 360 then they are on the Xbox 1.

The system definitely runs HOT and I had to move the system from a slot in my entertainment center with 3 inches clearance all around to a slot with 6 inches of clearance all around. I plan on installing some sort of supplemental fan system to move heat out of the slot it resides in. This heat problem is likely why Microsoft moved the hefty power supply into an external enclosure instead of leaving it in the system.

THE WIRELESS CONTROLLER
The wireless controller is 2.4ghz and works flawlessly while my 2.4ghz wireless network is busy. Ergonomically the controller is well designed, feeling very comfortable in my hands and not causing finger fatigue. The white and black buttons of the Xbox 1 controller are now secondary trigger buttons above each of the triggers. This took some getting used to since I would suddenly push one while furiously working the trigger.

The Live headset that came with the system plugs into the back of the controller, it includes a mute slide switch and volume control. The head set SUCKS in almost all aspects. Sound quality is horrible, the sound breaks up and the headset is not very comfortable on my skull. Some of this could be the audio circuitry in the controller itself. I am looking forward to this being a situation that is drastically improved by the after market industry. Plantronics WHERE ARE YOU?!

BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY
The only backward compatible game I have played on the unit is Halo 2. The download to enable this went fine, and since the first download there has been another update to the backward compatibility for Halo 2. H2 on the 360 does not seem as responsive to me and I seem perform better playing H2 on the Xbox 1. Others I have asked had split opinion on this, some notice a difference and some do not. Backward compatibility ONLY works if you have the full system with hard disk drive or buy the disk drive option for the core system.

CONCLUSION
The 360 definitely rocks and from my perspective has already paid for itself in enjoyment. Usually I am one of those that waits until the price drops and I am always a year or two behind on consoles. This time I am EXTREMELY glad that I did not wait because I am really enjoying this system.

LINKS
Check out these links for additional information
http://www.xbox.com
http://www.majornelson.com

No comments: